Quatrain 14
Quatrain 14 of 75
“The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes—or it prospers; and anon,
Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face
Lighting a little Hour or two—is gone.”
Reflection · Winter
Snow upon the desert's dusty face — Khayyam the astronomer could not have arrived at this image without also being a man who had watched the snow fall on desert ground and melt within hours. Whether the worldly hope turns to ashes or prospers — and Khayyam is careful to include both — the end is the same. Ashes: the hope failed. Prospers: and anon it too departs, the desert face returning to its actual color.
This is Khayyam's winter theology — not despair, but precision. The snow was real. The brightening was real. The hour or two of white beauty on the dusty face was exactly what it was: an hour or two. Understanding this is not grief. It is the beginning of a different relationship with hope — one that enjoys the snow for its own brief duration, not for what it promises to become.